Letter: Council is not winning hearts and minds

Letters editor

I was required to be present at Leeds High Court representing the Save The Futurist campaign at the oral hearing to consider whether or not permission would be granted for a Judicial Review.

The judge, Justice Kerr, decided that there were insufficient legal grounds. As I left the court a person wishing to remain anonymous, who had been present, said to me “You may not have won the legal argument but you have won the moral one.”

We were surprised to hear counsel for Scarborough Borough Council say in court that it (the council) may yet decide not to demolish, particularly if the factor of financial cost proved to be more considerable than first thought.

During the day-long proceedings it became apparent that another factor had emerged as being the most crucial, ie the council’s risk matrix concerning the proposed Futurist demolition includes the possibility of “catastrophic collapse” (their words).

The judge, in his summing up remarks, said “The council may change their minds.”

It is to be hoped at this late stage this is what will happen because what matters most is the risk of demolition and the ongoing worry of the nearby residents.